ROME, JANUARY 11 – The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched today the Bianca Pomeranzi Award, created to build a living legacy of her extraordinary contribution to the promotion of women’s, girls’ and children’s rights and freedoms at the Italian, international and transnational levels.
Bianca Maria Pomeranzi (1950-2023) was a leading figure in the world of Italian development cooperation. Her achievements include co-founding AIDOS (Italian Association for Women in Development), working as Senior Advisor on Gender at the General Directorate for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, directing the Local Technical Unit (UTL) in Dakar of the Italian Cooperation in Senegal and East Africa (2010-11), and being elected as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The Award aims to build a legacy in her field of work by supporting the winners in their post-graduate endeavours. It is aimed at graduates in Science for Development Cooperation (LM81) who have finished a thesis focusing on feminist and gender equality policies and practices in the political, social, cultural, environmental and economic spheres.
The winner will be given the opportunity to carry out a three-month internship at a leading organisation in the sector. The organisation chosen for the first edition of the competition is Oxfam Italia / Gender Justice Department. “It was an honour to have Bianca Pomeranzi on the Board of Directors of Oxfam Italia from 2021. The professionalism, competence and passion with which she always promoted women’s rights was greatly appreciated. We wholeheartedly support the Award and we are delighted to have its winner as an intern in our Gender Justice Programme, in the hope that it will be a useful experience to approach the labour market and work on issues that are central to our organisation’s mission”, commented Emma Romaro, President of Oxfam Italia.
Thanks to the generous contribution of the RUT Foundation and the European Women’s Management Development Network / Rome chapter (EWMD Rome), this will be a paid internship.
The Promoting Committee of the Bianca Pomeranzi Award is composed of Mrs. Elena Zambelli (Lancaster University) and Maria Rosa Cutrufelli, who conceived it, with AIDOS, Casa Internazionale delle Donne, Differenza Donna, Department of Political Science of the University of Roma Tre / PhD in Political Science – Gender Studies Curriculum, EWMD Rome, RUT Foundation and Oxfam Italia.
The initiative is also sponsored by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo, AICS). “Bianca Pomeranzi’s work has been fundamental in promoting the key role that women, girls and children play in the development of their communities. AICS did not hesitate in providing its sponsorship to the award dedicated to her, confirming the Italian Cooperation’s commitment to gender equality, in the hope that this initiative will contribute to the development of new skills thanks also to the contribution of the academic world and of civil society organisations,” said AICS Deputy Technical Director Leonardo Carmenati. The Bianca Pomeranzi Award is also supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI). For information: www.biancapomeranzi.it; premiobiancapomeranzi@gmail.com. (@OnuItalia)